Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Woodstock Corp

Woodstock Corp lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,380 shares of the company’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.7% of Woodstock Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Societe Generale downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $129.69 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $328.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.